


December 25th: Ho ho ho!

by NimueOfTheNorth



Series: Santa's Time [1]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: AU, Christmas, M/M, ProfilersForChristmas2016, Pseudoscience-talk, Reid is not with the BAU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 01:13:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9049327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NimueOfTheNorth/pseuds/NimueOfTheNorth
Summary: Jack was on a stakeout. In his own living room. The night before Christmas. Okay, okay, he was waiting for Santa but he has a really good reason for it. Maybe he can even make his dad happy again in the process.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Collection Note 1: This is the last story for our Advent calendar and it doesn't quite follow the rules (owner's prerogative). It wasn't prompted, though some of the other prompts are shining through, and I didn't even try with the word count.
> 
> Collection Note 2: I'd like to thank all the other authors who did this project with me. It was a great deal of fun and all of you totally amaze me! I'd also like to thank all the readers who commented, left kudos or just plain read and enjoyed.
> 
> HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF YOU!
> 
> Story Notes: Part of the pseudoscience-talk are definitions for 'conundrum' and 'paradox'. I did look it up but some of that is based on how I've seen the words used so if I didn't quite get it right just chalk it up to me not being a native speaker. There are hints of another fandom in this and I'm not listing it on purpose, hoping that those who recognise it will enjoy the surprise.

_“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains,_

_no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”_

_Arthur Conan Doyle_

 

Jack was on a stakeout.

Granted, it was only in his own living room, but a proper stakeout nonetheless. You had to be where the situation in question might occur after all.

He had brought his Captain America plushy along. He was of course way too old to still cuddle with it but it still had its place in the corner of his bed and Jack had naturally chosen it to be his partner in this endeavour. Having a partner during a stakeout was after all essential to the whole operation, for backup or if one of you had to take a leak.

Other essentials for a stakeout where coffee and doughnuts or Chinese takeout. Jack had to compromise on that front. Coffee was gross, they didn‘t have any doughnuts in the kitchen and while there were some leftovers from the Chinese they‘d had for dinner, Jack had no inclination to brush his teeth again, so he‘d skipped that part. He did have a bottle of water with him though, hoping this breach of protocol wouldn‘t ruin his plan.

Falling asleep was much more of risk on that front but so far he‘d managed to keep his eyes open - mostly.

He was huddled under a blanket in the chair furthest from the tree.

The tree always stayed lit during the night before Christmas. It‘s something his mum always had done, so Santa wouldn‘t bump into the furniture, she‘d said, and his dad had kept the tradition alive. So with the small but festive tree the only light source in the room, the chair in the corner was the darkest spot in the living room and the best position to see what might happen, hopefully without being noticed.

It was fairly late into the night. Jack was yawning more and more and his lids were getting heavy. But he had a theory to prove, so he couldn‘t fall asleep on the job.

This was important.

So to try and stay focused he went over the whole thing in his mind again.

Just like he was too old to cuddle with his plushy he was most definitely too old to believe in Santa. Only, there were some odd events that he couldn‘t explain.

Each year there would be one present on which the tag would only read his name, but not who it came from. It was always something he was really excited about or came to like a lot, but never something he‘d even thought about wishing for. No adult ever claimed to have given it to him.

Each time his dad would look a little worried and confused when he opened this particular gift. Jack had started to surreptitiously look out for his reaction after he first noticed it. And then the truly weird thing would happen. His dad, Mr Overprotective-FBI, Mr I‘ve-Seen-The-Worst-Of-It would just let it go. From one moment to the other, all the concern would vanish from his face and he‘d smile and ask what it was and if Jack liked his present. 

Like nothing had ever been wrong. 

His dad didn‘t do that, he always needed an explanation to dismiss an oddity. But never for these mysterious gifts.

Jack had started to ask around, first Henry and then among his friends. Turned out most of them could remember something similar, some had even wondered themselves. Others just brushed it off as a grandparent trying to keep them believing in Santa. But they all got this one odd present every year.

And with it happening all around there weren‘t all that many explanations left.

What was it Sherlock Holmes said? Something about when every obvious explanation was proven wrong, what was left must be the truth, no matter how weird it looked?

Only in this case what was left seemed to be one specific conclusion and that looked outright crazy.

Santa had to be real.

Hence, Jack being on a stakeout in his living room the night before Christmas, trying to catch a glimpse of Santa.

Unable to suppress yet another big yawn he thought yet again about just giving up and going to bed. The whole idea was a not so little bit ludicrous. But if he managed to see this through, he‘d know for sure and Hotchners always wanted to know for sure.

He looked at the clock in the stereo. 2:18 am. He hoped his dad wouldn‘t be too mad if he found him here.

Jack turned his eyes back towards the tree - and froze.

There stood a man.

But he didn‘t look much like the pictures of Santa.

The most obvious difference was his figure. There was nothing of the stereotypical rotund form to be seen, instead, the man was really skinny. He also seemed much younger than what Santa was always portrayed like.

At least the red velvet suit was there. Only it looked more like a fancy version of his dad‘s work suits with a red and purple patterned waistcoat underneath.

Funnily enough, the man wore an actual fur-lined Santa hat on top of his brown curls.

On his feet were no fur lined boots though. That looked more like... Converses?

Jack really didn‘t know what to make of this apparition. He hadn‘t seen the man‘s face yet as he was mostly turned towards the tree.

At least the man didn‘t seem to have noticed Jack so far. He crouched down and out of nothing produced an almost cube-shaped, medium sized parcel, nicely wrapped with a bow. There was no way that had been hidden in a pocket of his suit jacket and Jack couldn‘t see any kind of bag anywhere.

The man carefully placed his parcel among the other gifts Jack‘s dad had already put there before he went to bed.

“Jack Hotchner. Shouldn‘t you be in bed?”

Jack gasped in shock. The voice sounded not at all angry but he belatedly realised that he had absolutely no idea what he would do if Santa indeed did show up. He clearly needed more practice in planning.

The man had turned towards him but was still crouched down. Jack couldn‘t quite make out his face but he‘d said he was definitely younger than his dad.

He nudged himself to say something, anything, just to get this awkward silence over with.

“Eh, ermmm, yes?”

That earned him a chuckle. “So why aren‘t you?”

“I wanted to test a theory.” Jack thought he sounded much more confident already.

“And what theory would that be?”

“That you really exist.”

The man turned fully around and settled down cross-legged on the floor. “Well, seeing as I‘m here and talking to you I‘d say you‘ve proven your theory. I am real and I exist.”

“I mean...” Jack hesitated but then decided there was no point in holding back. “Are you really Santa?”

“I am called by many names this time of the year. Santa Claus, Papa Noël, julenisse, babbo Natale, Weihnachtsmann, Sinterklaas... so yes, in the sense that people call me all this and I accept it as referring to me, I guess you could say that I am Santa.”

Jack didn‘t feel like that actually cleared up much of anything but it would probably be impolite to say that.

He was also irritated by the fact that he couldn‘t see the face of the man, of Santa, properly. It wasn‘t even hidden in shadow, he just couldn‘t seem to focus on it properly, like it always stayed a little blurry or his eyes would just drift off to the side. And yet he was absolutely certain that the man had kind eyes and was smiling. How could he know that if he couldn‘t see it?

“So, did you have any plans for if I actually showed up?”

Darn, of course, Santa would find his weak spot. Likely he‘d had encounters like this before, Jack couldn‘t be the first kid to wait up for him, now could he?

“Not really. This was mostly to see if I was right, if you were real and if all the mysterious gifts came from you. I guess that‘s a yes on all three.” He shrugged.

“Does that mean I can go on with my night? I‘m kind of busy this particular night, you know. But I made it a rule that if a kid actually managed to stay awake and meet me, I‘d never just dash off. Determination deserves a reward. It doesn‘t happen as often as the kids would like. I have rather good timing.” Jack couldn‘t help the impression that Santa was winking at him. And this reading of facial expressions he didn‘t actually see was getting kind of creepy.

“How do you do it?” he blurted out.

“Do what exactly? Precise questions are integral to good research and investigations, Jack.”

“I mean, how do you manage to travel all around the world, stopping by every kid‘s house to deposit a gift and even have time for this chat with me? I‘ve found some calculations online and it simply shouldn‘t work!”

Santa chuckled. “You are right, it should not work at all. Especially seeing as in some countries gift opening happens on Christmas Eve and I have to hit those small windows when nobody is in the living room to pop in with my gift and at the same time it‘s already night somewhere else and I can‘t use that time to work ahead there, so to speak. It‘s quite the conundrum, isn‘t it?”

“What‘s a conundrum?”

“Oh, it‘s a kind of problem or puzzle if you like, to which the solution isn‘t obvious or seems even impossible based on the available information.”

“Like a paradox?”

“There is overlap between those two on first sight, but a paradox points you towards one of your assumptions being wrong, whereas a conundrum can be resolved once you have all the relevant information.”

“So a paradox is impossible and a conundrum is just a gap in the explanation?”

“That‘s a very good summary, yes.” And wasn‘t it a little weird to hear pride in Santa‘s voice about something that was more of a teacher‘s subject?

“So what‘s the gap? Or better, what belongs in that gap?” Jack pushed on.

“Ah, you see, your scientists have learned a lot about the universe in the last hundred or so years. But they are still only scratching the surface of how things really work. There are only a very few very brilliant and creative minds around who can even vaguely imagine the right questions, yet. But you‘ll get there in time.”

Jack chose to ignore the _you_ in this. The implications of that were a little too wide-reaching.

Thankfully, Santa just continued on. “You see, there is a funny little irregularity with space-time in this corner of the universe right around what you guys decided should be the beginning of a new year. It doesn‘t actually have anything to do with how the planet turns and orbits around its sun, it just occurs around the same time, quite by coincidence.

“Anyway, because of this irregularity time ripples in many tiny folds all through space in this region and if somebody knows what they‘re doing, it allows them to move along and between and right through the folds. They are like shortcuts through space and also bring time so out of focus that it simply can‘t assert its normal flow. And that allows one to stretch it and move through it very differently to any other time of the year.”

“You make it sound like time is a living being, something with its own will and personality.” Jack was trying to wrap his head around all the things Santa was explaining. At the same time, a corner of his mind thought that maybe he had just eventually succumbed to sleep and this was the weirdest dream ever.

“Well, she sure can be stubborn.”

Jack waited but no more information seemed to be forthcoming. “So, you are somebody who knows what they are doing with this rippled time thingy. And that‘s how you manage to get every kid a gift on Christmas.”

“I most definitely know what I am doing. And if I ever don‘t know, I‘m very good at winging it. And yes, that‘s how every kid gets its gift from Santa.”

“It doesn‘t really explain how you manage to get the perfect gift for us when we don‘t even know that gift is something we would want.”

“Oh that is just because I‘m really clever and good at my job,” Santa said in a very offhand tone.

Jack raised an eyebrow. His dad at taught him that bragging wasn‘t a polite thing to do and so far Santa hadn‘t seemed all that impolite. When Santa answered his unasked question, Jack got the faint suspicion that maybe he could read minds as well.

“Never be ashamed of an ability you have, Jack. People will know you have it anyway, so what‘s the point? There‘s no need to take pride in something you didn‘t have to work for either, but don‘t be ashamed.” His tone of voice had turned quiet and intense and Jack had the distinct feeling that this was probably the most important and valuable lesson he should take away from this night.

“It‘s getting late and you need to get some sleep, young man. Any more questions you need desperately answered?”

“Not really a question but...” Jack hesitated but then powered through. This might be the one perfect opportunity he got. “I know all the gifts are things the kids didn‘t wish for. But if you‘re really Santa, can you make wishes come true as well?”

Jack wanted to squirm under the intense stare but held still. Sometimes it paid off to have the dad he had.

When the answer came, it came slow and measured. “You know that there‘s a difference between a giver of gifts and a maker of miracles, don‘t you?”

“Yes. But I don‘t know whom else to ask.”

“In my experience it has never hurt to say a wish out loud, to share it with the world. Sometimes the universe alines itself just right, sometimes it doesn‘t. I can‘t make you any promises and I would never promise something I am not sure I can keep.”

Jack nodded in understanding and looked down into his lap.

“It‘s just... Dad is lonely. And he isn‘t all that happy anymore. All he has is his work and his team and me and triathlons. And I know he loves me and likes doing things with me. And he really cares about the people on his team but it‘s still always about work somehow. And he says triathlon and training help him to empty his mind but I think... I think he should have something to fill his mind. Something good and joyous and fun. And I wish...” Jack looked up at Santa again, right at the face he still couldn‘t see properly. “I wish he would fall in love again. I wish he‘d find that happiness again.”

It was quiet for a few endless moments.

“You are a very good kid, Jack Hotchner,” Santa said with a weird earnestness in his voice. And in the blink of an eye he was gone, the cube-shaped box under the tree the only thing left of him.

 

* * *

 

 

Christmas morning Jack had woken up feeling well rested despite his late-night stakeout in the living room. Maybe the universe had pushed one of those ripples through his bedroom so that he somehow had gotten enough sleep between 3 and 7 o‘clock. He‘d just shrugged it off and bounced into the living room where his dad had already been drinking coffee.

Internally Jack had sighed, thinking his dad should really have a reason to want to stay in bed rather than get up like clockwork even on Christmas. Outwardly he‘d been happy and excited about his gifts (and really, he was, no need to fake it or anything) and had given his dad an extra strong hug.

When he‘d reached for the present Santa had left last night, assuming it hadn‘t all been a very weird dream, strangely coinciding with reality, he‘d watched his dad out of the corner of his eye. It was just the same reaction as every year. A flicker of suspicion and worry and then it was gone like there was no question at all about the origin of this particular parcel.

Careful unwrapping had revealed it to contain a planetarium projector. Jack had been speechless.

He‘d been drawing his comic heroes for years and as he‘d gotten better at it he‘d paid more and more attention to their surroundings and background. And because a sunny blue sky was pretty boring and undramatic he‘d started to draw the night sky a lot, eventually referencing pictures he found online to get it more realistic.

When their science teacher had asked them to give a presentation about any topic from his list, Jack had chosen the one about the movements of the solar system and found he liked astronomy for more than the aesthetics.

He knew it didn‘t make sense to ask for a telescope living in the DC area. He wouldn‘t be able to see anything really due to the light pollution. He never thought he could have the night sky as his ceiling.

“Wow.”

“Yes, that is a pretty amazing gift,” his dad had agreed and Jack had gone to sleep under the slowly rotating stars ever since.

Santa had definitely gotten it right yet again.

Right now they were making the best of the fact that the whole team had the days between Christmas and New Years off and were on their way to their favourite shop. And it wasn‘t often that a father and son could say that about the same shop. But this one was special.

It didn‘t look all that big from the outside but once through the doors, they found themselves in a large, two storeys high room with spiral staircases in all four corners leading up to a mezzanine running along three walls.

The ground floor was a children‘s dream toy store where there was one of each toy to try out and play with. The owner didn‘t select toys and games because they were popular and heavily advertised. He preferred selling things that one could actually play or build or explore with. And Jack may be growing up but he never wanted to lose the fun he had at this place.

Upstairs was essentially a bookstore that looked more like the library of a very quirky bibliophile. Books for all ages were only somewhat ordered and moved around the shelves and tables following a pattern only the owner understood. You had to bring some time but if you allowed yourself to get lost in the search, you more often then not ended up with a find you hadn‘t imagined.

And if someone came in looking for a specific title, chances were the owner would know exactly where that one copy he still had was (usually some cupboard nobody had ever noticed) and present it to the joyous customer in no time at all.

And then there was the café. That took up one of the back corners, downstairs and upstairs and had the most amazing hot chocolate ever. The coffee, or more precisely one of the various coffees, was a guilty pleasure of Jack‘s dad. Jack had no idea why he tried to hide that even form his son but honestly, Jack wasn‘t that blind and his dad wasn‘t that subtle. Jack had made that clear when one of his Christmas gifts had been a voucher for this specific coffee and a piece of the pear tart his dad liked best.

Once through the door, Jack swept the whole shop with his eyes and - yes! - he found the tall and slender figure of the owner with his unruly chestnut curls behind the café counter. Dr Spencer Reid worked in all areas of his shop as the mood struck him and had a knack for showing up when and where needed.

How a man with four PhDs, working on number five ended up owning a toy store/bookstore/café Jack would probably never understand, though he‘d asked and been told the whole story.

Jack pulled his dad over to the café to get his coffee and cake right away. It was pretty empty and he was hoping that his dad and Dr Reid would start chatting again.

Because what he hadn‘t told Santa that night was that he had a specific someone in mind when he said his dad should fall in love again. The two got talking often and about seemingly every topic in the universe. Jack would see his dad‘s shoulders relax, his face open up and actually smile and his eyes got this sparkle.

Somedays Jack had outright done his homework in a corner just so he wouldn‘t have to disturb his dad enjoying himself for once.

They had been coming to this shop for over two years but nothing had ever progressed passed intense and lively discussions. But the older Jack got the more certain he was that the two were flirting with one another. Only they didn‘t seem to notice.

Once his dad was all set with coffee and tart Jack made himself scarce by venturing into the section with the jigsaw puzzles. When he next glimpsed around a shelf he gave himself a mental pat on the shoulder as an employee had taken over the counter and Dr Reid was sitting at his dad‘s table, his own huge coffee mug in front of him. The two were talking animatedly and his dad was outright laughing.

After playing some time with other children trying out games, Jack ended up in a comfortable chair on the mezzanine, reading a book he‘d discovered on a bottom shelf. He liked looking on the bottom shelves because he thought the books there were often overlooked and that wasn‘t fair to them.

“There you are, Jack Hotchner.” It wasn‘t his dad but Dr Reid‘s voice that pulled his attention out of the world between the pages. “Your dad is looking for you. He said something about the two of you having dinner plans with some of his colleagues.”

Jack hadn‘t noticed that it was already dark outside so he gamely got up and closed the book, not without memorising the page number he was on.

When they came down the stairs his dad was just coming out of the jigsaw section and spotted them coming his way.

“Hey buddy, did you have fun?”

“Yeah, I think I found a board game I‘d like and can I get this book? I‘m already into chapter three and it‘s really, really interesting.”

His dad just smiled and nodded. He‘d never actually said no to a book.

Dr Reid was waiting for them at the check out counter, but he let an employee take care of their purchase. Instead, he pushed a large, flat, rectangular gift with a bow over the counter towards Jack.

“I didn‘t get around to giving you this before the holidays. Merry belated Christmas!”

“But you don‘t have to give me anything, Dr Reid. And I don‘t have anything for you in return!” Jack looked at his dad a little helpless.

“Humbug. Gifts don‘t work that way. Besides, you could finally stop calling me Dr Reid and start calling me Spencer instead. _Both_ of you.” He sent a meaningful look towards his dad as he said that. Seemed the point had been raised before. And was his dad blushing?

“Thank you, Spencer,” Jack was quick to comply. Hopefully, his dad would follow and it would bring the two of them closer together. There was only so much he could do to help this along.

“Yeah, about that... Spencer... I‘ve been meaning to ask, but somehow... and the thing is...”

Jack had started to tuck the bow away from the gift but hearing his dad stumble over his words made him look back up. Oh, that was most definitely a blush! Was he really, finally going for it?! Jack outright held his breath in anticipation.

He could firmly see his dad getting a hold of his resolve and straightening up. “The thing is I was hoping you might want to go out to dinner with me someday. On a date.”

A slow smile spread across the lips of the younger man. “I would love to. Tomorrow? Or is that too soon?”

“No, tomorrow is great! Should I pick you up?”

“That would be nice. I can get out of here about half an hour after I close the store.”

“Great! I‘ll be here. Any preferences for the restaurant?”

“Nothing too upscale but beyond that I‘m flexible. If it‘s Asian they better have forks though. If I had to rely on chopsticks I‘d starve to death or eat very uncivilised.”

His dad let out a startled laugh and Jack was beaming all over the face. A date! They were going on a date, tomorrow! Seemed the universe granted his wish after all. He hadn‘t noticed that the attention of the adults had shifted from each other to him.

“So, what did Spencer get you?”

“Oh, ehm...” Jack finished unpacking and held in his hands an illustrated book. _Swirling Stardust - The Milky Way And Other Galaxies_. “Awesome,” was all he could whisper in response. “Thank you, Spencer, I love it.”

His dad was distracted putting on his coat and scarf.

Spencer bent down to Jack a little. “You are very welcome, Jack. I thought it would go well with your new planetarium.”

Jack had been looking at the beautiful cover of his gift but at the last words his head snapped up to stare at the genius. Spencer just smiled and winked before he straightened up to say his goodbyes to Jack‘s dad.

Jack was still staring at where Spencer‘s face had been when his dad tucked his new book out of his hands and held out his jacket for him instead. “Everything alright, buddy?”

“What? Oh yeah, everything is fine, perfect really. Do you think I can have a sleepover at Uncle Dave‘s tomorrow and make him play video games with me all night? Just so you have all the time for your date and all that.”

“We‘ll ask Uncle Dave but I think you might find yourself in luck.”

Another round of goodbyes and an awkward wave from the door later Jack was strolling along with his dad towards their car.

His dad had a date. 

His dad had a date with Dr Reid who he‘d been flirting with since forever. 

His dad had a date with Santa. 

How cool was that?!


End file.
